


Reality TV with Gorillaz

by YumeSin



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Light BDSM, Multi, Other, Phase Four (Gorillaz)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 22:43:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12285813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeSin/pseuds/YumeSin
Summary: Ally Goodbear is a recent hire at GCS(Generic Company Productions). Pitted against the world, she is forced on a high concept project her boss, Yamada, drags her into. Convinced that Allys' 'heritage' is crucial for the projects success, it is more than likely Ally will be canned if the talent backs out of the television show production. The talent: Gorillaz. Ally has no clue who they are. But, through several hours of binging their content and interviews, can Ally secure and produce a decent television show with the misfits?Let's find out!





	Reality TV with Gorillaz

"So you're telling me I have to talk like this?" Murdoc said in his usual, cynic tone. I had to withhold my sigh or otherwise he would transition into a rant. And you don't want to get Murdoc Niccals on a rant. "Listen, the world is currently tuning into Americanized reality TV. If you sound like some 'bullock from London', we won't get any views. We've done the research. Ten years of research actually. And nothing is going to change that," I replied, my fingers wrapping around my hands. Keep calm and professional Ally. If you let these animated junkies into your psyche, this deal'll crumble. I had my best poker face on while 2D and Murdoc investigated my face, seeming to ignore my boss and other contract writers behind me. I knew I was supposed to be the face and talker of this deal, but no one told me they would hide behind me like kittens the entire time. I knew this pitch was outside of the bands’ usual cup of tea; they’re taking it with a grain of salt.  

"But we don't normally talk like this. Ain't reality TV suppose to show how we normally live," 2D said. Even the pill addict was against this. I couldn't lose control. I could hear the heels of my boss begin to tap behind me. The room was beginning to warp. My vision felt blurred. I think...I can still do this. I can't let life get the best of me. I had to convince the band to do this or I'd definitely be on the chopping block. I had to show GCP that I was worth a damn as a new college graduate. The stone cobbled walls were beginning to waver ever slightly. The four of them were sitting in chairs, directly across from us on a rectangular table.  They were beginning to show signs of irritation. Russell shook his head, staying silent. 2D began to play with his nails, appearing to chip at his red nail polish. Murdoc, still giving me the death stare of the life time, tapped a lone finger on the surface of the table.  

My eyes broke away from Murdoc to observe what Noodle had been doing. Noddle had been tapping her fingers on the wax table in a rhythmic beat, starting to hum a tune. Russell smiled a bit at this, shaking his head in a more loving matter. I watched the large black man lean over and whisper words into the womans’ ear. 2D and Murdoc were starting to get into it due to issues about how they initially agreed to negotiate the deal and how ‘2D was supposed to just sit and look pretty’.

“What? Leave me alone,” Noodle said in a hushed tone to Russell. Oh, here we go. Maybe I could use this band spat as time to think of a way to convince the four. Come on Ally, think, what negotiation technique would work best for these four? Let’s start with analyzing what we know about these guys.  

Gorillaz, formed way back in the 2000’s, are trying to spark their acting career. This spark was likely trying to be like their tremendous success back in the mid 2000’s. But, back then, the head honchos were Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn. They (Jamie and Damon) took everything they (Murdoc, 2d, Noodle, and Russell) did and brought it to the public eye. And, most importantly, the actual members sat on their asses most of the time and let the ‘fakes’ do most of the live performances. 

Now, in 2017, they want to be known by their own faces. They want to be everywhere. They think a television show is the best way to start with ‘everywhere’. Amid their latest tour of their Humanz album, the band members are going behind Daman and Jamies’ back in hopes to surprise and enlighten their fans.  

The issue: Gorillaz are pushing back on everything. The research, the funding from sponsors, the location—nothing worked for them besides the thought of being on TV. I had five different correspondences total: their group e-mail, and each separate member that disagreed (“only slightly”, they would stress) with another band member. This was chaos and the only solution I saw was to wait for the duo that helped organize their band information to come on board. But, if I did that, the clients in front of me, screaming their throats out to each other, would be left dissatisfied. My marketing degree from GMC would be useless here.

“Alright, everyone, how about we take five? Get our thoughts together, revisit the drawing board, maybe throw out some new concepts for the television show,” my boss, Yamada Stockly, said over the overspilling arguments erupting around us.

“Whatever,” Noodle said, sounding almost like some sort of troubled teenager, as she made her way toward the exit. Her attitude was matched with her trendy outfit of short shorts and her acclaimed yellow sunglasses shirt. She swung the door open, exiting to the right. A bit of a brick crumbled onto the ground.

My eyes followed the remaining three, seeming to show some sort of remorse for their words. Murdoc appeared the most troubled, a frown now on his face. Murdoc took his upside-down cross in his hands, fiddling with it.

“Ah, you’ve gotta forgive us. Usually we’re not as sensitive or aggressive. It’s just…” Murdoc said, beginning to explain something. But the words just…stopped. The other two, looking at the door, began to walk toward it. Russell exited, without a word, his footsteps fading out to the usual humming of our agencys’ busy bodies. 2D’s hot pink shirt whirled around a bit in the breeze of the AC, his belt buckle getting stuck in the door metal. Watching 2D struggle was funny, but I stifled my laughter until he exited from my view. What bunch of characters this lot was.  But, more importantly, what should I do?

“Murdoc, no need to apologize, just give our team five to review and recoup from that. These things get stressful, that’s why we’re here to help,” Yamada replied with clarity, her twenty years of experience in this field showing. Why was someone so young as me handling this big of a project anyway? I’m way too inexperienced. I feel like I’ll never get anywhere. I’ll just be delivering papers and taking calls for those with larger resumes. This entire thing was a mistake. I was the one to just apply for desk receptionist, not ‘Lead Team Coordinator’.  

Murdoc nodded to Yamadas’ words, heading out toward the door. He noted the small folder attached to the outside of the door, digging through the contents.  His black ripped jeans and t-shirt appeared to match his attitude a bit more. The upside down cross matched his critical outlook on the project. Despite previous interviews I forced myself to binge, he seemed much more reasonable than I thought. His aggressive and borderline abusive attitude toward 2D had been a cornerstone of his personality in previous interviews. Maybe I was too aggressive going in? Maybe those interviews were staged?

Murdoc found the proper signage, planting a red “15 MINUTE BREAK – ROOM STILL TAKEN – MEETING TO RESUME AT __:__” on the front end of the door.   As he gripped the door handle, I watched him pause. Something about his aura felt different with the other three gone. His eyes, seeming a bit vacant, stared at the side of the room with the at least 20 show concept ideas. All of them crossed out in blue, green, yellow, or black marker.  That whiteboard was a failure, mirroring me well. How could I help this company when the top client that has ever walked through their door was starting to pull back?

“If this falls through, you’re gonna have hell to pay. Make it work,” Murdoc said to us older his shoulder, not even bothering to face us. Of course, be mad at me as the speaker, but not at all of us! I felt myself get angry, my cheeks puffing up in efforts not to say words that could potentially steer our candidate away further. I felt a soft hand touch my shoulder, gripping it. This must be Yamada; she always seemed to know every bad manner I had. Yamada seemed to know everything but what my original job position was supposed to be; customer service, not actual service!  

“We understand,” was all Yamada got out before the door slammed the other way now, closed firmly by the hands of that damned Murdoc. How were we supposed to make anything work if they were being so uncooperative?

“First of all, decent job Ally. This is one of the most difficult clients we have dealt with since we’ve existed. This is something of a miracle for our company, something that could put us on the map. But, if we let the talent overrun us like that, we’ll be finished on this deal. The main reason they’re even having a conversation with us right now is because we’re off the map. Media won’t follow them somewhere as empty and isolated as Fresno. Well, relatively. We have that deal with Netflix going on that could expediate all types of shows. We’ve gotta use our core competencies to drive to the talent we can be of service. Otherwise, we’re out of the race. Any idea of where to take it from here as the crew leader, Ally,” Yamada asked me, sitting where Murdoc had been. Why ask me—you’re the freakin’ manager of this section?!? This is just anxiety inducing, nothing more—she’s trying to get me to quit! What an asshole, I’ll homeless, I won’t be able to make my student loan payments so then I’ll have to do some serious shady business which will land me into jail and then—

“Hey, snap out of it. We only have fifteen minutes. And then, we’re back in that cage. And in that cage we need to get a yes from them or we won’t have enough time to coordinate another meeting like this. We still need to get the stamp of approval from Netflix to even start to get some of the funding we need. This is the real-world Ally. I am trying to show you how to deal with stars this huge because I know you can do it,” Yamada said to me, again, like this was some sort of coming of age story, “Don’t you want to move and do that big stuff with those mangays you like?” Did she just call them. Mon. Gays? And big stuff was a bit of an overstatement; being an underwriter or a director in recording is a small cog in the scheme of things.

“Ok, ok. I understand what you’re asking me but it’s not like we can move forward. They don’t want to use sponsors but they don’t have enough capital to fund a show standalone. That includes the Netflix funding. So, I suggested we go with a low budget reality TV show that’s Americanized to reach a broad audience. They said no to that. What else can I really think to say other than, ‘fuck off?’” I said, honestly already drafting my two weeks within my head. This job was too stressful. My past two, much lower stake clients were already backing out of their deals. Why did Yamada trust me so much to give me such a big client as Gorillaz?

“I know, I wanted to say fuck ‘em too but this is huge. With a name like that underneath us, we’re sure to be competitive with others mass studios like Warner Bros. Gorillaz, making a television series, in the flesh? Just that part makes the revenue crawl to us. But we need it to be a half decent show to retain viewership. Johnny, clear off the whiteboard. We’re starting fresh and we won’t leave this room until we clinch a television pitch with these guys. Didn’t expect Noodle to be such a bitch though,” Yamada stated, putting a hand underneath her chin pensively.

“Well, it’s not like she’s in the media as much as 2D or Murdoc. Besides songs, she’s not really in any major interviews. I’ve searched the internet and can’t find much. That’s going to be a hurdle for any type of television series,” I added to Yamadas’ statement. I can’t do this stress anymore. Maybe, after getting credit for this project, I’ll split from GCP. Then I’ll work on my mangays—or mangas. Depending on how much of a truly committed weeb you are.  I watched as Johnny dutifully wiped whiteboard clean. His usual beanie and hipster beard seemed uncaring. Bored; that’s the point where I wanted to be now. On the sidelines. I hated being in the front lines.

“Well, yes, of course. I think our shared heritage of being Japanese would save me a bit of grief, but it’s going to take more. I do have an idea. I want to split the band up, conquer each member separately, and have them come together on an agreement. Noodle and 2D are the problem children so I’ll take them. Russell and Murdoc may be the hard sell but I believe in you Ally.  Murdoc has that hard exterior from being in the entertainment industry for many years; you gotta have that hard shell to get anywhere. But only someone far removed from the industry, like yourself Ally, can truly melt that. Once you break him, Russell will follow easy. The rest of you, I want you to assist me in getting the other two on board. I can trust you with this, right,” Yamada said, going on her quick rants that ended up being the plan. Well, so much for my opinion. I shrugged to her as I sighed, shaking my head. This would be impossible. My research was useless, the men were already on the defense, and worst of all the band appeared to be on a brink of a breakup. Go me.

 “Sure,” I answered, half sarcastic, standing from my seat. I’ll really have to pull a bunny out of the hat for this one.

“No, don’t give me that ‘sure’ crap you millennials feed your bosses. I want an honest answer. You, being a mix of African American and Native American, you break the usual Hollywood Barbie mold. Everyone in this room was selected for the precise and honest reason to show this group that America is a diverse place. That they don’t need to get back on a plane to Europe to film whatever D list show they want. We are diverse and we can prove that we are true lovers of their work,” Yamada said, seeming to go into her ‘pitch-fork speech’ mode. You see, Yamada had this certain inflection of talking that I think people back in the 1800’s used to speak in before chasing after someone. This was that tone, soon we’d be having pitchforks and poking at the members of the Gorillaz like they were inhuman. Like pieces of meat to be looked at, or worse, immortal beings that do not deserve their life span.

“And you see, I think that’s what Gorillaz is all about. People coming from all corners of the Earth to make something special. If we don’t nail down that ideology from what we’re saying, this band will leave and we will be back in the classifieds again looking for talent. So, for those coming with me, be on your shit. And, Ally, don’t let me down,” Yamada finally finished, her eyes heading toward the door before her body. Oh great; now this is the point where I must somehow find the courage to sound a bit more excited about this.

“Yeah, that makes sense now! Thanks Yamada,” I answered her. There was a bit of sadness somewhere in there, about lying about how much less sense things made, but I can bullshit most things. I love how the focus shifted from being about what I thought to what Yamada decided to do in the five seconds of desperation her mind was floundering in.

“Good, good luck everyone,” Yamada said, hailing the others to follow as she opened the door. Yamada removed the red signage and awaited the group to return.

How will I manage to convince these dickweeds to do a show produced by Generic Corporation Studios and somehow make commission from them?

Guess we’ll see.


End file.
